kind of a give and take. A good MT guy can throw a bitchin shin roundhouse...but then again a good old school TKD kick (not a snappy Olympic tag kick) can **** you up too. Guess it depends on the person & the style their learning, etc.....spend time conditioning the shin so you can kick full force with it and not limp away vs. time spent learning to do this kick properly developing power & not turning your toes into a train wreck

Wouldn't a shin roundhouse lack the height of a ball foot roundhouse? A roundshin would require you to get pretty close in order to even strike, where as the ball foot roundhouse can accurately go for the head. I guess you can use either one to suit the situation.

The shin is at a lower location than the ball of your foot I mean, requiring more reach for headshots and whatever. Heh, shin wins in surface area though.

I gotta say I'll starting using roundshins, I don't have much reach or flexibility, but my kicking power is pretty good. Imo, the shins are easier to hit with anyway.

Wouldn't a shin roundhouse lack the height of a ball foot roundhouse? A roundshin would require you to get pretty close in order to even strike, where as the ball foot roundhouse can accurately go for the head. I guess you can use either one to suit the situation.

Hit the head with your instep instead of your shin. Problem solved and you are still free of broken toes.

I screwed that up for years. There was only a period of about 6 months where I could do it right. I finally got it after a lot of heavy bag practice. I just kicked over and over again, until I was comfortable enough to throw full power behind without worrying about my toes. The way to train it that someone mentioned before is a good idea. Old school Shotokan places still insist on using the ball of the foot.

The only real advantages are increased penetration from using a small surface area and that it can go past a lot of peoples' arms because they're not expecting it. There are a shitload of disadvantages though. Of course, it's easy to stove and break your toes. Also, if you're wearing shoes, you're probably not going to be able to pull your toes back no matter how hard you try. I also found it was a lot slower and you had to get your angle just perfect for it to work. One of my old instructors was really good with it. It hurt even through a kicking shield, but he was the exception rather than the rule. As soon as I quit drilling it on a regular basis, I lost it. For me, it's not worth it and I hit with the shin now.

if you know how to sit in seiza, get into that sort of position, but sit on the ball of your foot/ your butt will be resting on your heels rather than on your ankles as in normal seiza. Basicallly they well be bent 90 degrees while normal seize your insteps are touching the ground. do this for progerssively longer times and you will get the strength and flexibility.

it hurts, but this exercise gets easier in time.

i avoid kicking with the instep as i wear regular sneakers while training (i train in my garage and outdoors so bare feet isn't a good idea) so it is difficult to bend the ankle enough, though the shin does work well. training in shoes does present plenty of other issues though but is great practice.

This is an original ITF style kick...

...and is taught in some very traditional ITF based TKD schools. I can do it but rarely do because it is very awkward and quite easy to injure your big toe :sad10:

The jist of executing the techique properly is the kick is not delivered directly in front of you but at 30 to 45 degrees off to the side (ITF thinking again). So you would turn slightly away from your opponent (or board) and deliver the kick i.e., turn 30 degrees to your left to deliver a right leg kick. Anatomically your toes should be in a better position.

Try it and let us know what you think and then stop using it. It is slow and ineffective...